Fight for Love
by Sabrina Mellark
Summary: Snow tricked me. How can i do this on my own and while carrying a baby. Haul's baby. it cant be done, i cant do this. but i have to. the deal is, if i win, i can live in peace, the only other option is death. so now i must kill for my survival, and the survival of my baby. our baby. the only way to get back to my lover is to fight. and that's exactly what i intend to do.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the sequel of Cedars and Wheat. Enjoy!**

It replays in my mind. No. it can't be…snow promised…he said it wouldn't happen. There's no way.

I slowly walk towards the stage, my mouth open a little. I climb the few stairs and onto stage next to lane. I find Haul in the crowd and see he's petrified. Tears in his eyes, I think I have them too. But I wont let them fall until im away from everyone. I can't cry in public.

I look behind me and see Holden is surprised too. It's then that I realize Lane had been talking. "shake hands now you two" she says. I look into the boys hazel eyes and see the fear he's holding back. I take his hand in mine and shake it.

As soon as I let go a peacekeeper grabs my arms and pushes me into the justice building. I put into an elevator and taken into a small room. the door shut and I'm left alone.

This is when I get to say goodbye, I have a whole hour. The only person I really know is Haul so we get an hour to say goodbye. I sit on the old couch and wait. I think it's been about four minutes but it feels like ten. Where is he? I need to see him!

The door burst open and haul runs in. he shuts it and I throw myself into his arms. I let out all of my tears and we sink to the ground. "he said it wouldn't happen Haul" I cry. "I know, I know. I'm so sorry. Im so sorry" he says hugging me tighter.

"what am I going to do, im going to die!", "no" he says, tears streaming down his face, "you are not going to die, your going to survive. You're a surviver remember. You went the last fourteen years on your own, you kept yourself alive once, and you are going to do it again", I see him swallow. "You do whatever you need to do to stay alive, form a strategy. I don't care what it is, you do it!".

"You kill if you need to, kill them all. Just make. Sure. You get back to me. Please" he begs and crashes his lips into mine. "I love you, I love you so much" he whispers between kisses. "I love you too" I say and hug him again. He takes my left hand and gestures to my ring, "this will be your district token" he says looking me straight in the eyes. "you wear it as a sign of our love and as a memory of home, okay" he says and I nod.

He takes hold of my face, and strokes my hair, "Frent will be your ally, I talked to him he said he'd do whatever he could to get you back", "what if he's ly..", "he's not" he cuts in. "I know that kid, I babysat for him once, he's not lying". He better be this sincere for Haul to insist on giving him my trust.

"alright" I whisper and press my head to his chest. We stay that way for a long time, and stop occasionally to hug and kiss and say we love each other. When my hour is up a peacekeeper comes in, "alright you love birds time is up" he says. I kiss Haul one last time and hug him before he's taken out.

The peacekeeper comes back for me and takes me out back to a car where Lane and Frent stand waiting. I wipe my face and try to disguise my tears and red cheeks. Frent still has his feeling locked inside, and I admire him for that. Im to sensitive to hide my sadness for very long. Sooner or later I have to let it out.

Lane looks at me and takes my face into her purple hands, her nails are freakishly long and painted a bizarre orange color. "oh sweetie, no need to cry. Your flushed. There will be camera's and you wouldn't want to get your picture taken looking sad do you". I just shake my head.

The two climb into the car and before I do I pull the bun out of my head so my hair falls and covers my face. I slide into the car and lean on the window with my head down. I cross my legs so I don't look upset and wait as we pull off.

Sure enough there are cameras. Lots of cameras. People swarm the car, snapping pictures, flashes of bright lights in my eyes. Lane surely waves at the camera's but Frent and I don't budge.

It takes a few minutes for us to reach the train station but when we do Lane has us board as quickly as possible. The train is what I expected, fancy and over decorated, the usual for capitol décor.

Lane offers us seats but I stay standing and Frent goes to sit on the floor. "would you like anything to drink" she asks us. I shake my head again, "I'll take some water please" frent says. He has a pretty deep voice. Im shocked and look at him as he patiently waits for Lane to hand him a glass of ice water.

"how old are you" I ask. "fifteen" he says. I nod and then turn to look at the door when I hear it open. Holden walks in and throws his arms around me. I sigh out of relief, "he's my mentor. I know he'll help me.

"Holden, get off of her!" Lane orders. "She's like my sister" he says and hugs me tighter. I never really hugged him before, it's different then when I'm hugging Haul. "are you okay" he whispers to me, bending to my level. I nod. "im gonna do whatever I can to help you out okay" he says taking my face in his hands. I nod and thank him.

He pats my shoulder and stands up straight, "alright guys we'll be in the Capitol in a couple of hours so prepare to get comfortable" he announces with a smile to lighten the mood and even Frent chuckles. We sit in chairs finally and talk about the opening ceremonies. "I'm sure you both know how the ceremonies work right, costumes and horses and what not. Now when you meet your stylists, DO NOT. GIVE THEM. A HARD. TIME. Let them do their job and you are to be seen not heard. You don't complain about your outfit and don't smart talk them, Rye" he says adding my name quickly. I smile and roll my eyes.

"after the ceremonies you two are to eat and go to bed. Got it" he says and we nod. "after that you have two days of training, then a session with the gamemakers to determine your score. From one to twelve" he says. "next you have your interviews with Ceaser, and then…the arena" I can see him swallow.

"will we practice strategy" frent asks. "yes you have strategy with me, and manners and stuff with Lane" he says gesturing to her. We look and see she's in the mirror trying to find any possible flaws in her purple face. Great, that should be a blast!

Suddenly I feel sick and vomit comes up my throat. I cover my mouth and run to find something like a bucket or trash can but I end up puking in a potted plant.

"are you okay" holden asks rubbing my back. "yeah just morning sickness" I say wiping my mouth. "it's the afternoon" he corrects. I nod, "I know, but you can get it any time of day, I get mine in the afternoon" I say. "doesn't morning sickness happen when a woman is pregnant" frent asks. I nod, then freeze. He's right. Im so use to getting the morning sickness I had forgotten what it meant. I open my mouth to talk but my voice comes out as a whisper, "I'm pregnant"


	2. Chapter 2

"But how could you be sure there's no way to really know" holden says sitting on the floor with me. I nod, "morning sickness is the only way for me to know, I never got my…you know period, and I don't always crave things" I say, tears rolling down my face.

Now that im going into an arena it just means that I need to win for the survival of me and my baby…if the surgery worked. Holden holds me as I cry. Why, why did this have to happen. I know haul and I really wanted a baby but, had we known, I wouldn't be pregnant, and he wouldn't possibly lose two people he loves.

I sit up wiping my eyes and look around, "where's a phone I need to call Haul" I say. "do you really want to do that" holden asks. I shake my head, "yes. I have to tell him" I say. "but it will just make him worry" Frent cuts in. once again, he's right. I can't tell Haul about our baby because he's already scared to death about me, and if I tell him…I cant put him through that.

"Fine you're right. I won't tell him" I say and stand up. "is there a bathroom" I ask ducking my head a bit. "yeah I'll lead you" Lane offers and we leave the room.

She shows me the bathroom and then walks out. I lock the door and wash my face. I try to hide the tears but they keep coming and coming. I sink to the floor and cry in my knees. I do all kinds of things to stop myself from throwing a complete tantrum.

Snow did this. He wanted me dead so he rigged the bowl again. He supported the surgery because he knew Haul and I would try for a baby immediately. He knew this would happen, he wanted to have me killed and even worse, my child. He still believes children pick after their parent. I was, but I promised not to! And he did this anyways. He lied to us. "_and I'll make sure that you don't get chosen for the reaping…_". Uggh how could I be so stupid!

Now I'm going to die, and it's my fault. I should have known not to agree to the surgery.

"Then why did you" Frent asks. "Because I wanted a baby" I answer. I lay my head on the table and cover my head with my hands. I feel a hand on mine and I look up, "you don't need to worry rye. Haul and I talked. I agreed to help you out in anyway that I could, and I will do what I can I promise" he says. "you don't have…", "I want to" he says. He's just like Haul, always insisting, never changing his mind.

"Thank you" I say standing up and holding my arms out. He gets up and I hug him. He's the same height as me so I can hug him regularly. "thank you so much" I whisper. "your welcome" he says back and when I let him go he sits back down.

A few hours later we reach the capitol. We exit the train and enter the station where more people swarm us. Frent and I wave nicely to the people as we're led out of the building and into another car. We're taken to a building and separated. I'm put into a room with three people who look like they could pass as murals.

There are two men and a woman. The first man has pale skin and yellow eyes. His head is shaved on the sides but up in a thick mowhawk on top that is a mix of blue and green. He has on a black t-shirt with aquamarine plaid lines on it. His pants are blue and tight. And he has on black shoes. He says his name is Blye. He second man has white powder on his face and a swirly red design on the side of his cheek. He has on eye shadow and lipstick. His hair is straight and black with lines of red and yellow. His hair stays as if he put hair spray in it. He wears a red jacket that's open and shows his bare chest. His black pants are baggy and have red polka dots on them. I cant tell if he has shoes on or not. His name is Bise. The woman has on a yellow tubetop with gray sequins. She has on gray shorts and yellow sequins. She wears yellow slippers and has very very light pink skin. Her hair designed to look like a bow then has it down as a ponytail hanging from it. She has big earring on and a piercing on her tongue, her name Sagitarria.

I guess there my prep team.

They get to work right away. First they strip me down and remove every last piece of hair from my neck down. They arch my eyebrows and remove the hair from my knuckles. They wax under my arms and between my legs which is the most painful by far.

They hose me down and Blye begins trimming my hair. He has to cut about 4 inches off of it because I never bothered to take care of my split ends. Then he evens out my bangs. And Sagitarria gets to work on my nails. She clips them, and then files them. She paints them brown along with my toe nails and Blye gets to work on making my hair silky and luxurious.

When the two are done Bise starts on my make up. He keeps it simple but just giving me a sparkly shade of eyeshadow over my eyes and black eyeliner. Her puts brown lipstick on me. And a tan blush.

Usually I wouldn't care about men seeing me naked but since I stopped with the whole prostitution thing Haul has been the only one to really see me. I feel uncomfortable at first but then it starts to fade. "Kern will be here in a minute" Bise says and they all leave out. I look around for a mirror and find one at the other end of the room. I go look in it and see they've made me look beautiful. I also notice that I have curves now. Living in the victors village has made me gain weight. Im not that skinny little twig any more.

My hair is now at chest level and my nails are just noticeable from the inside of my hand. Im hairless, which makes me look so smooth. I rub my arm a little and sure enough I was right. It's baby soft. Baby.

I turn to the side and look at my stomach. I can just imagine what I'd look like with a large pregnant belly. It's what I've been wanting for the past two months. For all I know that surgery probably didn't even work and I'll probably just end up miscarriaging like I always do.

The door opens and I turn around and see a man walk in. my stylist I guess. He introduces himself as Kern and holds out his hand when he walks over to me. I shake it and he tells me to go stand by the table I was just on. He brings a hanger over with an outfit that reminds me of the whet field back home. It's a one piece outfit with a belt made of woven wheat. There is a slit in the middle going down until it reaches the belt. He carries boots in his other hand.

"I had begun making this about a month ago, and when I saw you at the reaping I thought it was just my luck that a girl as sexy as yourself was chosen" he says setting the boots down to take my outfit off of the hanger. "excuse me" I say, for some reason offended. He looks up, "what" he asks. He's a grown man, and he called me sexy. That's perverted. "Never mind" I say. Holden told me to be seen not heard. Kern nods and has me step into the outfit. I look in the mirror and see how revealing it is. It's the part of my chest that needs to be covered but through the slit you could see my breast. It's like two large circles.

The belt is above my belly button and under the belt the bottoms are shorts so at least I won't be stared at by these perverted men here. I think back to Lauder, the head peacekeeper. I can't imagine what the regular citizens are like.

I put on the boots. They're the same creamy color as my outfit and go up above my knees, and have heels. "you know how to walk in heels don't you" Kern asks. "yes" I say. I've had plenty of practice over the years. "great" he says an says, "so, lets go ahead and meet everyone" he says and leads the way out of the door.

We meet up with everyone in a large room filled with chariots and the other tributes. We watched a recap of the reapings while on the train and I remember everyone's name.

District 1, Lartius and Iberis, District 2, Skene and Winnow, District 3, Raff and Fannia, District 4, Struve and Pleione, District 5, Alto and Eunia, District 6, Leonis and Gliese, District 7, Whytt and Columbae, District 8, Jardine and Vibia, District 10, Rendwick and Auricula, District 11, Tiberius and Saffra, District 12, Martial and Grey.

Frent is dressed in cream colored shorts with dark brown boots. He doesn't have a shirt on. He's muscular for his age. His dark hair has been brushed a little to the side to cover his eye. I have to say he's handsome, not many young boys back home look like him.

Holden instructs us, "make sure you two smile and wave. You already look good now you need to act good" he says pushing our hair infront of our eyes more. He helps us onto the chariots and says, "good luck". The mentors and stylists back away as the doors to the city open, and music blasts in my ear barely drowning out the crowd.

The chariots go one by one and pretty soon our chariots move. As soon as we make an appearance I hear whistling and see fingers pointing as Frent and I. we are both attractive but still, I don't see the reason for all of this extra-ness.

"district nine!" I hear someone in the crowd yell and I have told hold back my laugh. Instead I smile and wiggle my fingers as I wave. Obviously I was made to look sexy, so I need to act like it too. I wave and wink at the men, tucking my hair behind my ear when one of them waves back. I act as if I'm blushing and look away. I blow kisses and giggle a little. They love it all.

When we reach the presidents mansion he walks out on his balcony and gives a speech. A very long and boring speech. All I can think about is how it's his fault I'm here. He stares into my eyes as he talks and I don't look away at all.

When he's finished he walks back inside and the chariots start up again and go through the doors. When we stop we climb down and meet with Lane and Holden. "rye the president wants to speak to you" he says. I swallow, "okay" I say and walk off in the direction of the mansion. My heels clack as I walk.

While I pass the other chariots the boys whistle and call my name. I smile and wave again at them then continue on my way.

When I reach the front door of the mansion an avox opens the door for me and leads me to his office where Haul and I went the last time we were here. I go inside and snow greets me. "why am I here" I ask immediately. "because I want to talk to you" he says gesturing to the chair infront of his desk. "no, why am I here, in the capitol. You said that we wouldn't get picked". "I was talking to mister rendom when I said it. I was looking at him and specifically said that he wouldn't get chosen. I was never talking to you" he says.

I start to cry silently. "you did this on purpose" I whisper. "indeed" he says. "so now you want me dead". "I've always wanted you dead, and if you survived I wouldn't make it easy.". "what are you talking about" I ask. "if you survive these games, then I'll leave you and your little boyfriend alone" he says. "what about our baby" I say. He looks surprised and I realize what I just said. He must've not known. "so you're pregnant" he says, a small smile on his face. "yes" I say back and he chuckles then shakes his head.

"you should have known there would be a catch. I don't let people go that easy. The road will be bumpy, but if you get through, then ill leave you be." He says and leans back in his chair. The only way for me to get home is to win. That's the only option. I shake my head, that's never going to happen. I'll probably die on the first day.


	3. Chapter 3

My door opens a little and the light shines in my eyes. I squint and look. "sorry to wake you" holden whispers walking in. he turns the lights on and I block my eyes. We came to a building called the tribute apartment.

He kneels beside my bed with a phone in his hand, "it's Haul" he says.

I take the phone, "hello" I say. "Rye" he says. "oh my god I miss you!" I say to him. "I miss you too baby. I saw the chariot rides, you looked amazing" he says softly. "your not upset about all the flirting I did" I say upset with myself. "no. I told you to use whatever strategy you needed. I don't care what you do. Just make it back." He says.

"snow said he was only talking to you when he said that we wouldn't get reaped" I say. "Hmm" is all he says. "he also said that if I win, he won't bother us anymore. Me, you or the baby" I say. "what baby" he asks and my eyes grow wide. This is the second time I did this! Holden's eyes are wide as well. "rye" he asks, "what baby".

"I never got to tell you…I'm pregnant" I say. "what!" He yells. "wha- but- you cant go in with a baby" he says. "he doesn't care" I cry. "why didn't you tell me!" he says. "I just found out today" I say wiping my eyes. "I wasn't going to tell you because I didn't want you to worry even more. Im sorry" I keep crying. "I don't know what I'm going to do, im going to die in there Haul. They're going to kill me". The other line is quiet, "you have to try" he says back, "no, I can't. I can't do it". The next thing he says is what calms me down.

" Do it for Basil" he says and if I were with him now he'd probably touch my stomach.

I sniffle, "I'd do anything for Basil". "put my brother on please" he says and I hand the phone to Holden. "hello" he says and after a few seconds he sits next to me on my bed and holds me gently. He gives the phone back and i put it to my ear, "hello" I say. "baby get some sleep okay. Practice with the weapons you cant use that are similar to knives. Axes and swords. Work on those alright." "alright" I say back. "I love you" I cry, "I love you too. I'll try and talk to you again tomorrow" he says. I nod, even though he cant see me and hang up.

I cover my face with my hands and cry. Holden rubs the back of my head, "don't worry, it's gonna be alright" he says. "no it's not!" I say sitting up. "you say that but it's not. Im going to die in there, me and the baby" I say. Holden doesn't reply. He wraps his arms around me and holds me until I fall asleep.

In the morning Lane knocks on my door, "Rye, wake up!" she sings. I sit up and wipe my eyes, "im up" I say. "We have training today. Hurry hurry!" and I hear her walk off. I get out of bed and go into the bathroom.

I look in the mirror and see I look a mess. My eyes are red and my cheeks are flushed. I wash my face and rub my eyes. I head into the shower. There are buttons, labled for any soaps, shampoos and conditioners. I don't bother to wash my hair. I get out of the shower and I'm dried off my fans. I walk out of the bathroom and find an outfit. A black, yellow, and gray t-shirt with the number nine on the back, and black work out pants. I pull them on, the shirt is tight, the pants are loose.

No shoes I guess. I put my hair into a ponytail and walk out of the room. I head to the dining room and sit down. I fill my plate with potatoes and fish, I'm not in the mood for any eggs or bacon. I fill my glass with water and eat silently. Frent joins us a few minutes later, his hair is damp and brushed back a little. I never noticed the sideburns. He's dressed in the same outfit as me.

"You two have training today, any particular weapons your planning to use" he asks us putting a fork into his mouth. "I think I'll try hand to hand combat" Frent says. "I'll probably work on some battle axes". "okay, but don't just settle on those you only have two day. Circulate, try different things, learn about survival". We nod.

After breakfast Lane takes us down to the training center in the basement. "good luck you two!" she says and we walk off the elevator. We walk through the doors and into the gym. Everyone is just arriving, each district has a different color from red to orange and purple, blue, green, brown, and so on.

We all circle around our trainer and she explains the rules. No fighting first of all. There is to be no threatening with weapons, and the tributes need to patiently wait their turn to use a station. She talks to us like were five. When she's done explaining everyone heads to the station of their choice.

I head over to the battle axe station and the man there teaches me how to hold it, how to swing, how to chuck. It takes about an hour to almost get it right and he lets me practice on dummies. I chop the body parts off and pierce the heads. It's funny because I'm not doing it purposely. The axe is really heavy.

Afterwards I head over to wrestling where I find Frent. I stand in line two people behind him. He goes and I'm impressed. He puts raff from district 3 in a headlock after being pinned to the ground. Raff taps the mat and the trainer breaks them apart. Soon it's my turn, me against the boy from two, Skene. The trainers don't care about mixing the genders since in the arena anyone can kill anybody.

"can I go against a girl" I ask the trainer. "why, you scared" Skene asks. "im smaller and possibly weaker than you. It wouldn't be fair" I say getting into position. "it's not about fairness. The strongest always win" he says flexing his arm muscles. I roll my eyes, "fine, lets do this." I say. He smiles. The trainer blows her whistle and skene runs for me. I run too. He raises his leg to kick me but i drop to my knees and slide right under his leg.

I get to my feet and turn around. He's just realizing what happened. He turns around and runs again. I try and escape to the side but run into the matted wall. He runs and I hold my hands out to block but he takes my hands and tries to pin them to the wall.

Soon my arms get tired and he pins them like he wanted to. I yell a bit because he's crushing my hands. He's in my face, "you think your all bad, nine. Huh" he says. I fall to the side and he lands ontop of me, his knee hitting my hip. "ah!" I cry. The trainer blows her whistle and pulls Skene off of me. She moves my clothes a little to check my hip. "that's going to bruise. Go back to your floor and put some ice on it" she says.

I shake my head, "no. im fine" I say and get up. I walk off of the mat holding my hip. I look over at skene and see he's laughing with the boys from 1 and 4 Lartius and Struve. I go over to them, "you thinks it's funny to hit on girls" I scold. They all nod. "hmm, no wonder your all probably single" I say. Skene just shrugs, "it just shows how weak you are when you fight a girl instead of someone whose the same size as you". "im not weak" he says. "you sure, why don't you go against the boy from my district, see how strong you are then" I say gesturing to Frent who's back in line for wrestling.

Skene angrily heads back into line behind frent and the two boys and I watch. Frent and skene take a few mintues blocking each others punches and dodging kicks. Frent runs and tackles Skene to the floor and gets him into a headlock like he did with raff. He obviously cant get up so he taps out. I smile at that.

The trainer blows her whistle and pulls frent off of him. I walk over to frent and smile at him. Skene rubs his neck and walks off the mat. I start to giggle since I don't want to laugh, "thank you. That showed him" I say and throw my arm over his shoulder. "you have to teach me how to do that" I say and we walk off.

At noon the mentors come down with lunch for us. Holden brings us sandwiches and water. We sit on the floor eating. I sit uncomfortably on my right left side. "what's wrong" he asks. "I'm a little sore" I say gesturing to my left hip. He leans in and whispers, "does it have something to do with your pregnancy". I shake my head, "it has something to do with that bastard from 2" I say looking over to Skene.

"what'd he do" he asks. "he freaking crushed my hip with his knee" I say back with an attitude. "let me see" he says. I pull my shirt up a little to show the bruise on my side. He groans and has me pull my shirt back down. "you wanna go put some ice on it" he offers. I shake my head. "alright" he says.

When we finish eating he takes the tray he brought the food on back upstairs. "I'll see you guys for dinner" he says.

Frent and I go back to training. I practice rock climbing and sword fighting while frent stays in the weight lifting section and archery station.

"alright, on your mark, get set, go!" the trainer blows her whistle and I race up the wall against Columbae from district 7. We're both slow, and struggle to the top but eventually I make it and get down before her. The trainer blows her whistle, "24 seconds" she says. Columbae comes down. "46 seconds".

"yes" I whisper to myself. I head to the side and get a drink from the water fountain. I feel a hand rub up against my butt. I freeze. Just relax, pretend your into it.

I get up and turn around to face the boy from 8, Jardine. "hey" he says smiling. "hi. You mid telling me why your touching me" I say. He shrugs and pulls me closer. He rubs my butt and says, "I liked watching you climb" he says. "oh really" I reply and smile. "yeah, and I was wondering if I could get a closer look". Major pervert. "you really want to" I whisper into his ear. He nods, "yeah.

"okay" I say and take him by his shirt and pull him into the utility closet where they stash the old and extra weapons. Maybe this could be my strategy, getting the boys to like me, then killing them when they have their backs turned. I close the door and lock it.

He stares at me and I pull down my pants and underwear. I turn around and lean against the wall so he has a full view. In my heart im telling myself not to. It's considered cheating. But my brain is saying, it's the only way to make it home. So I let him toy around with me, and take a short round of anal sex. It hurt, it really hurt. Afterwards I'm even more sore than before. I pull my pants up and say, "Satisfied", I use my seductive voice.

He's been blushing this whole time. He nods and bushes his hair back. I nod and say, "bye". He waves and I leave out.

I go back into the gym and look at the tributes, they're all distracted. I quickly go over to the battle axe station again. I have to say, I'm really getting the hang of it. After a couple of minutes Lartius comes over to me. I look up at him, "here to beat on girls tough guy" I say turning my back to him to chuck my axe. It lands right in the dummies shoulder.

He makes a sizzling sound with his teeth and flinches. "no. actually I was just talking to Jardine and he told me some very interesting things". "really. Like how he doesn't make himself feel proud by hurting women". "how long are you going to stay on that" he asks annoyed. I smile, "as long as I can manage". He sighs and rolls his eyes. "so is what Jardine said true" he asks. "depends on what he said" I say back and pick up a new axe.

"he said you two had sex in the utility closet just now. "hmm, does anal sex count as regular sex" I ask and chuck the axe again. This time I miss and it goes into the wall. I groan and go to retrieve them. "yea I guess" he says. I nod a little. "so what do you want" I ask. "what are you willing to give me" he asks. I drop the axes and walk towards the closet and signal for him to follow.

We go into the closet and I shut and lock the door. "breast and ass" I say. "what about pussy" he asks. "off limits" I reply. "alright" he says. He reaches for my shirt and pulls it above my head. He does the same with my bra. "girls back home have breast like these" he says cupping them with his hands and pinching the nipples. "im the only one in my district" I say.

I bring his head down to my chest and he sucks and bites my nipples for about ten minutes until he stands up straight. "Done" I ask and he nods. I pull my bra and shirt back on and leave the room, with him following after me.

The boys all stare at me and I now jardine told them. I sigh and prepare myself for anymore questions. I don't even get to finish training because by the time training is over at eight, I have been with every boy, except for Frent, who somehow doesn't know what's going on.

I have to take my ponytail out because they've given me hickeys and bruises on my neck, possibly all over. The last was Skene, who needed some convincing from the boys to walk over and ask me.

Before anything I talked to him and he apologized to me for hurting me before. I acted like I needed convincing, and I was shocked to see how desperate he was. I can't wait to see their faces when they find my knife in their back.

Frent and I ride the elevator to our floor and when we get off Holden and Lane greet us. I keep my head low but look at them occasionally so they don't ask what's the matter. "go ahead and wash up you two" holden says. We nod. I put my hands over my hair to cover my neck as I walk. "Rye, are you okay" he asks as I'm walking towards the stairs. "uh, yeah im okay" I say not turning to look at him. "does your hip still hurt", "no im fine" I say. "why are you holding your neck like that" he asks walking closer. "im just a little tired Holden can I just go to my room" I ask.

He doesn't answer at first, he just looks me up and down, "sure" he says. "thank you" I reply softly. I begin to turn around but he grabs my arm and spins me around. I see his eyes widen as my hair swirls around as well. He takes my face and moves my hair. "where'd you get these!" he says looking all over my neck. They trail down my shoulders and chest. "what happened to you!" he demands.

"can we please speak in private" I ask. "sure" sure he says and we walk into a different room. "what's going on" he demands. "nothing" I lie. He scowls and folds his arms. "okay then how do you explain all of this" he says gesturing to my neck.

I don't say anything, "fine. Frent! Can you come here please!" he shouts. "no, no he doesn't need to know!" I whisper. "if you wont tell me then he will" he says. "no!" I say trying to cover his mouth, "frent!". "yeah" he answers walking into the room.

"what is all this about" he asks pushing my hair back so he can see the hickeys and bruises on my neck. He shrugs, "I don't know. I've never seen them" he replies. "see" I say back. "you need to tell me" he says. I sigh and hang my head, "I had sex in the utility closet". "you're already pregnant! You're in a relationship! What the hell is wrong with you!". "I have to !" I say back checking out the door to see if anyone heard what he said.

"why do you have to". "it's a strategy I thought of. I get the boys to like me so they wont hunt me down in the arena and I can kill them" I keep it simple. "that's pretty smart" frent says nodding. "okay, and which boy exactly did you try and trick". "all of them" I say shyly.

"Rye, you can't do that!" he yells. "I know! I know! I don't want to but I have to!". "you don't have to!" he yells back. "Frent you can go" he says and he walks out. He glares at me angrily, "now what would happen if I told Haul" he threatens. "no he said to get a strategy and use it. He doesn't care what it is and this is the only way for me to be able to survive. I won't be able to get home unless I win" I say.

"Okay well sex isn't the answer. You are pregnant, with my brothers child. I don't need him getting even more upset than he already is because his 'fiancée' decides to be stupid" he says. "it's not like…what Haul and I do, it's anal" I say. He grimaces his face, "eww Rye!"

"sex doesn't harm the baby" I say, "but I refuse to let those boys touch me that way" I say to him and bow my head. "im doing this for Haul. I want to get back home, and have this baby. I want to marry him. Snow said that if I win this he'll leave us alone and I'm willing to do anything for that." I whisper. "I just want to go back home" I say.

"I know you do" he says hugging me, "and I promised I'd help you, Frent promised too. We're going to get you back home. You will win this" he says. No im not. Im weak, and helpless. I always reduce to sex when it comes to survival. Why! I guess those girls at school were right. I am just a horny little slut.


	4. Chapter 4

"hey baby are you okay" haul asks me. "yeah, im fine" I lie. "I miss you" he says. Just the sound of his kind voice makes me tear up, "I miss you too". "I wanna be with you Haul. I don't like it here" I say. He chuckles, "I figured you wouldn't. but don't worry okay. It'll all be over soon. Your fighting for basil remember", "I remember". "I need you to stay strong for her, and for me. can you do that" he asks me. "I can try" I reply.

"what have you been working on in training" he asks. "battle axes, sword fighting, wrestling and rock climbing" I say. "wrestling huh, how'd that work out for ya" he asks. "bad, the boy from two thinks it's funny to beat on girls" I say. "he bruised my hip with his knee" I continue. "make sure you kill him first for me" he says. "I'll try. He's pretty strong though but guess what!", "what" he asks. "frent beat him in wrestling today" I giggle. "yeah he's a good kid. Isn't he the youngest this year" he asks, "mhmm" I reply.

"I really like him, I wish two could win. I just cant bare with the thought of him dying. I just.." I start to cry again. I think it's the hormones because I don't just start crying. "uggh I can never talk!" I complain wiping the tears away. "baby calm down. Just breathe for a second" he says in a calming voice. I do what he says and lay back down. "thanks." I whisper. "your welcome" he replies and I know he's smiling. I yawn, "go ahead and sleep, I'll talk to you tomorrow" he says. "alright. I love you Haul" I say. "I love you too" he says and hangs up.

I put the phone down on the dresser and lie on my right side. I imagine my life with Haul and I with our children.

_I rub my large pregnant belly as I lie on the sofa. Haul walks over to me and kneels beside me smiling. a young boy, with brown hair and looks just like his father, runs over and jumps onto his back, "daddy" he says. "hey there Locke" Haul says hugging the little boy. He comes over and kisses my cheek, "hi mommy" he says. "hey baby" I say. And hug him._

_Suddenly my pregnant belly is gone and a little girl runs up. "daddy! I picked you a flower!" she squeals showing him a rose. A rose! "basil throw that away now!" I shout. She begins to cry, "why" she asks. "throw it out!" I scream._

_The door opens and snow walks in. the kids run to him and hug his legs, "don't worry kids, you wont need your mother anymore. She cant have you" he says. "give me my children" I order. "I wont give you what you want without an obstacle you have to overcome first." He says. "fine, tell me what I need to do" I say. "you win the Games" he says. _

"_that's impossible I cant do that!". He shrugs, "well then I'd guess you'd better say goodbye to your children and your lover. Because once you go in, you wont come back out unless in a wooden box" he says and leaves the house with my children. Haul fades away from me and everything melts away until im stuck lost in the darkness of oblivion._

I sit up and scream. I scream and scream. My door bursts open and Holden and Frent come running in. "what's the matter" holden asks me. "snow took them, he took them from me!" I cry. "who" he asks. "my children" I say and sob.

In the morning makeup is put on my neck to cover the hickeys. I leave my hair down and after we eat Frent and I head back to the training center. The boys immediately ask to go into the closet again and I go in one by one, district by district. Around noon Holden comes and frent and I eat. "you didn't go into the closet with any of those boys did you" he asks. I stare at him guiltily.

"uggh rye what did I say" he keeps his voice down. "I know im sorry, but… im doing this for basil. Not for them". I finish first and sit quietly on the floor.

When Frent finishes Holden sends him off and takes me to the side. "You're not going back in that closet do you understand me. You will stay out here and train. Those boys got what they wanted now it's over! You got that". "yes! Yes I got it stop yelling at me!" I say frowning.

"Go" he says and points to the gym. He takes the tray and leaves. I walk off and go back in the wrestling line. Frent has been teaching me the headlock he knows and I want to try it out. Sadly there are only four people in line and im behind Skene. I decided to come back later but as I turn to go he says, "where you going. Back to the closet" he asks. "no" I reply. "well can we go there", "no" I repeat. "why" he's starting to get upset. "because I need to train im not going back in that closet you got your turn already today" I say. "well I want another one" he says crossing his arms. "well you aren't getting another one" I say back quickly. He's angry now.

"next" the trainer says and before I know it he has my arm and has me pinned against the wall. My arm is above my head, the other trying to push him away. He takes me off then slams me again, yelling and cursing at me. He jams his knees between my legs and feels all over my body, with his pressed against mine. "you're going to give me what I want!" he shouts. I'm screaming and trying to get away. "no!" I cry. "get off!". "you're going to give it to me!". the trainer tries to pull him off of me but he pushes her away. She blows her whistle hard and other trainers come running.

They all pull him off of me. and I fall to the mat crying. Two trainers come over to me. "c'mon get up" they say pulling my arms to get me up. "no, no" I cry. They lay me back down. "someone call her mentor" a trainer says and a minute later Holden walks off the elevator. He sees me and runs and drops to his knees. "what happened", he asks. I am balled up holding my stomach where he did the most damage with his large, heavy hands.

Between my legs is hurting as well, "it hurts" I cry. "what hurts? What happened?" he asks. I don't answer, I keep crying and crying. He crushed my sides, and I hit my head on the mat. His knee roughly rubbed against me. it hurts all over.

Holden picks me up and carries me back to the elevator. He takes me to our floor and lays me down on the couch. "let me see Rye" he says trying to pull my shirt up a little. "no, it hurts" is all I say. "rye what hurts you have to tell me" he says in a whisper brushing my bangs back. I don't answer him. He gets up and rushes upstairs.

My stomach hurts so bad, I don't know what he did to me…but it hurts. Holden comes back downstrairs on the phone. "She won't tell me what's wrong" he says. "alright" he says. He clicks a button and holds it to my head, "your on speaker" Holden says a bit louder. "Rye" Haul says concerned. "what happened" he asks. "he hurt me again" I reply. "the boy from 2". "yes" I cry. "baby stop crying where'd he hurt you". "all over" .

"Let Holden see what's wrong baby okay" he says. Holden has me hold the phone and he slowly pull my shirt up to see my stomach. "Oh my god" he says under his breath. "Here let me see the phone" Holden says holding his hand out. I hand it over and he clicks the button again and holds it to his ear. "Her sides are red, and bruised and there's some blood. I think from fingernails I don't know" he says.

He stops to listen, "I think I can, I have to ask", he listens again, "I don't think so if we get her fixed up she'll be back to normal" he says. "..alright, ill ask, I'll call you when I get a response" he says and hangs up. He dials another number, and puts it to his ear. "uh I have a tribute who has been harmed during training" he says. I can almost hear the voice on the other line. "it was done by being attacked" he says and looks at me to see if he's right. I nod. He nods and listens. "Tribute Rye Hemlock from District 9" he says. "alright I'll bring her down" he says and hangs up.

"I'm going to take you to the infirmary" he says. "where's that" I ask. "below the training center" he says. He calls Haul and tells him yes then hangs up. He puts the phone down and scoops me up. I flinch, then wrap my arms around his neck. He takes me to the elevator and we go all the way down. The elevator door opens and he carries me into a room with people wearing light blue jackets. There are a few beds with curtains on each side. A woman comes over and tells Holden to put me on the first bed and to have me undress and put on a robe.

He looks uncomfortable. "It's okay, I don't mind" I say and he helps me out of my training clothes. He doesn't look at me either. The robe is put on me and I lie down. Three people come in, two women and a man. The man has a clipboard, "who attacked you" he asks. "the male tribute from district two" I answer. "do you know why" he asks, "he was mad at me", "for what". I swallow, how do I even say this. "he was upset because he wanted something that I had and I didn't give it to him" I answer. "what was it you had" he asks. Uggh! "he wanted…my body" I reply. The doctors all look shocked.

"have you and this tribute ever had any sexual encounters" he asks. "Yes" I reply. "have you and this tribute ever had any other type of relationships outside of training". "no, I don't know him" I reply and look away. That sounds really bad. I had sex with a boy I don't know. Uggh and the sluttiness continues.

"tell us what hurts" a doctor says and starts to gently press my head, then neck, then arms, then stomach and I shout. It's written down on paper. She continues lower to my legs, then feet, then between my legs and I whimper and flinch. "he sexually abused her" the woman announces and it's written down.

"how did he hurt you here" she gestures to my vagina. "he took his knee and just..jammed it, then rubbed it around" I say. "okay, I need to take a look" she says lifting my robe and separating my legs. She looks and asks me what hurts. It all does.

She then looks at my stomach, "oh my goodness he did this. Fighting first off is against the rules…but, this is unacceptable" she says. I'm not so much concerned with the outside of my body. Im concerned about my baby. What if he harmed her? I want to ask but, they really shouldn't know…but I say it anyway.

"is my baby okay" I ask in a soft voice. "What" they ask. "my baby" I put my hand on my stomach. Once again I've shocked them. "I found out about her two days ago" I say. Im not sure about the gender but I want to say her to remind me that it might be basil that im fighting for.

"I can check" the woman says.

It take about an hour or two for them to heal my bruises and cuts. Around two o clock I have to throw up. They give me a trashcan to spit into. "oh so you really are pregnant" she says. "yea" I reply.

"would you want us to perform an ultrasound. You wont really see anything if your only 2 days in" she says. "I don't care. I want to see" I say. she nods and sets up the equipment.

She puts a cold blu gel on my stomach and gets this stick thing and rubs it around my flat stomach. On the screen all I see is black and white. There is a gushing sound. I watch the screen eagerly. Suddenly she stops moving and another doctor points to a space and says, "see this little dot right here" he says. I nod, "yeah" I say. "that's the baby". For the first time today I smile then turn my head and look at Holden. "that's our baby Holden" I say happily.

He smiles at me and brushes my bangs back again. "you're the father" the woman asks. "no she didn't mean our as in me. she meant it as in her and my brother" he says. "oh, well congratulations" she says patting my shoulder. I look back at the screen and stare at the little dot. "Can you print the picture" Holden asks. "of course" the woman says and hits a button. The picture comes out of the machine and she hands it to me. I take it and look at it, tears rolling down. "I can send it to Haul for you" he says. I nod, "yes. I want him to see it" I say.

It's not much to look at but I stare at it for a long time. If I survive this, and somehow keep my child alive as well then I will be able to know if that surgery worked because I really don't know. But until then I will pretend it did.

I'm left in the infirmary until dinner so that I could rest which I don't see he reason off, as soon as they healed me with that voodoo capital medicine I felt fine.

Holden had to leave to go get frent, then he came back to get me and I was taken back up to our floor. Before anything I took a red market and put a circle around the baby and put and arrow that said, 'baby Basil'. I give it to holden and he takes care of it.

At dinner I eat silently. "are you okay" frent asks me. I look at him and nod, "im fine thanks" I reply. "I saw what happened, they kicked him out of training for the rest of the day" he says. "well, tomorrow is are the private sessions so I guess we're both going to score low. I barely got to train" I say. "you'll be alright" he assures. "thanks" I say again and go back to eating.

Lane has been very quiet today. Probably because we aren't doing anything to disgust her, or show bad manners. It doesn't matter tough, I enjoy this sudden silence.

"the private sessions start at ten tomorrow, when you finish well watch the scores then practice strategy. Frent you'll have me first and Rye you'll have Lane.", "okay" we both say at the same time then finish eating.

Afterwards I head to my room and get ready for bed. Holden comes in about a half hour later, "I send the picture to him, he should get it by tomorrow". "okay" I answer. I lie down and pull the covers up to my shoulders. I hate sleeping without Haul, I feel so alone and in danger. With him I feel so safe, but I will never be safe again, from now, or until I get back home…if I get back home.

I just know that Skene is the first I'm going after. Then the rest of the boys one by one, I need to lure them into my seductive trap. Then when they're gone I'll fight the girls regularly with Frent by my side. It should be easy; I know some of the tributes from district six and up will most likely be stupid enough to stay for the blood bath so a number of them will die on the first day. I just hope one of them isn't me.


	5. Chapter 5

"Rye Hemlock" a mechanical voice calls. We're waiting to go into our private sessions with the game makers. I get up and walk through the door and into the gym. I have my hair down today, just because.

I enter the gym and close the door behind me. I see a table of gamemakers, all men. They have papers infront of them and water bottles. They wait patiently as I make my way over to the battle axe station. I pick up the first axe and aim at the dummy. I chuck it and it slices the head off…that's a first.

I go to the sword fighting station and slice up all of the dummies until all of the body parts are on the floor. i gain confidence and sprint over to the wrestling mat to fight the person there wearing body protection. We fight for a minute and I swing my leg up to kick his face but he catches my foot and pulls making me fall back. I put my hands down on the matt and make him flip over onto his back then put him in a headlock the way frent taught me.

The game makers applaud and dismiss me. I jump up and leave out. I stop next to frent and say, "goodluck", he smiles and nods. The voice says his name and he goes in. I push my hair back and wipe the sweat from my forehead. I walk past the other tributes and the boy from ten smacks my butt. I jump but then turn to smile at him. I turn back around and roll my eyes.

I head to the elevator and go back to our floor. holden is on the couch with the phone. He turns and sees me walking in. "oh here she is" he says and gets up. I smile and he hands me the phone. "hello" I say putting it against my ear. "Hey. I got the picture" he says sounding very happy. "really, do you like it" I ask. "of course I like it. That's our baby" he says. I smile, "what are you up to know" I ask walking to my room. "eating lunch" he says. "let me guess. It's bacon" I say. "oh you know me" he jokes. I smile and open my door. "we wont be eating lunch until after they announce the scores" I say. "what do you think you got" he asks. "hard to say, I don't know if they liked my skills or my ass".

I hear him chuckle, "I prefer your ass" he says and I blush. "I just wanna smack it" he says and I hear him clapping. I laugh. "shut up and eat your bacon" I joke. "I wanna eat that pussy" he corrects. "can't im pregnant" I say. "can to" he replies. "I will do it when your pregnant and whenever I feel like it, because lucky for me you never got your period." He says and I roll my eyes. "did you just roll your eyes at me" he says.

I laugh, "yeah". "so you feel better, nothing hurts" he asks. "yes I'm fine." I reply and lay down on my bed. "you know, it's so weird how you act" I say. "what do you mean" he asks. "when you first talked to me at school you were so..awkward, and so forward, it was weird. Now I feel so comfortable around you and when you talk it's just…so normal you know what I mean" I ask. He laughs, "no. but I get that I was really forward I act that way around my crushes, I would never be comfortable around them so I could act like myself. But you're the only one I actually got used to".

"so I'm the only girl you act like yourself around" I say. "no I act weird around girl I crush on. You're the only woman I love", "I love you too". Just then I hear frents door close and say, "alright I need to wash up, lunch is in twenty minutes" I say. "okay, bye" he says. "bye". I hang up and go into the bathroom.

When I come out I dress in dark blue Capri's and a T-Shirt. I clip my hair back and head downstairs barefoot.

We watch the scores. District 1, Lartius 6 and Iberis 4, District 2, Skene 10 and Winnow 5, District 3, Raff 7 and Fannia 4, District 4, Struve 7 and Pleione 7, District 5, Alto 3 and Eunia 4, District 6, Leonis 2 and Gliese 1, District 7, Whytt 8 and Columbae 9, District 8, Jardine 7 and Vibia 7, District 9, Frent 10, and Rye 10, District 10, Rendwick 4 and Auricula 8, District 11, Tiberius 6 and Saffra 5, District 12, Martial 2 and Grey 3.

Frent and I got 10's. the adults congratulate us, and holden says, "time for lunch, we have a special treat". We eat pizza with black olives and pepperoni on it. There are seasonings on the side as well. It's cut into triangles and taste amazing! I get about three slices then get full.

When everyone finishes Lane and I head to my room and Holden and frent head to his. Lane puts me in a dress that reaches mid-thigh and large heels. "you seem to know how to walk in heels but you need to walk straight. She says and puts a large heavy book on my head. She points for the other side of the room and I walk over there slowly, taking each step carefully. "quickly quickly" she says snapping and I try to walk a bit faster.

The dress im wearing is flouncy and keeps brushing against my leg. "suck in that gut" she says. "I don't have a gut" I reply turning around to walk back. When I reach her she gives me a different dress, this time tight against my legs. She puts another book on my head, "each dress requires more balance" she says and has me walk to the end of the room and back. I raise my arms to keep balance, "arms down" she says, I put them down but then put them back up. "arms down" she says again. "it's hard" I say. "that's why we're practicing. Arms down" she says. Uggh this is torture.

She brings a chair and has me sit down. I take a seat and she has me get me stand back up. "you must flatten the back of your dress before you sit down" she says and demonstrates. I have on a long fluffy dress. "Lane, Kern will probably have me wear some extra tight dress that makes my ass look big" I say flattening my dress and sitting down, "don't curse" she says.

"Straighten your back" she says. "You never slouch" she says. "I wasn't slouching" I complain. "yes you were" she says. "keep your head high" she says tapping me under my chin. I raise my head, "smile" she says and I smile. "perfect" she says. "put your hands in your lap". I put my hands on my legs right over left.

"sit up" she repeats. "cross your ankles". I cross my ankles, "sit up" she repeats again. She takes a mirror and puts it infront on me so I can see my posture. "this is how you must sit in the interview" she says. "got it" I reply looking at myself in the mirror.

"Alright, up" she says. I get up. She gets another dress and I put it on. This one is skin tight and drags on the floor. "Sit back down" she says. I do everything I have to do without being told. I straighten my back, raise my head, smile, cross my ankles and put my hands in my lap. "well done rye! What a fast learner" she says to me happily. "now if Kern does give you a small dress, keep your legs closed, alright it's not lady like to show your panties" she says.**(** **I hate the word panties!)**. "I swear the men here are just so perverted" I say. "Well word is you're the most attractive female tribute we've had in five years" she says.

I don't answer. "Rye, time to switch!" Holden calls and opens my door. He and Lane switch and the doors close once again. I kick off the heels and walk over and drop down onto my bed. Lane is gone, no rules!

"so we're talking strategy" Holden says. "yup" I reply. "alright, so what do you think would work" he asks me. I shrug and lay on my back. "sexy is one, I'll have to play that card whether I want to or not" I say. "yeah, what about arrogant" he says, "I am not arrogant" I say back. "yeah, your not, your also not, serious, or what about confident" he asks. I just shake my head. "okay….what would you use to explain me" I ask. "you have a smart mouth" he says. I laugh, "sexy, sarcastic" I say and get up off of my bed, "is that it" I ask. "it is if you want to stop but we could also talk about survival strategy. Frent and I did that" he says. "okay" I say and sit back down.

"what are you going to do during the bloodbath" he asks. "I really don't know i was going to wing it, it's not like I know what they'll have there" I say laying back down and staring at the ceiling. "well say they have everything you need" he asks. "I'd probably run in get what I can and run out", "an what if you get into a fight" he asks. "then I'll have to try and kill the person". "what if you're wounded" he asks, "then I'd better pray to god there's some medicine in my bag, or that's it's not fatal", we laugh a little.

My smile slowly goes away and I hug my knees to my chest, "I'm scared" I say. he opens his arms for me and I go into them. "I know you are, but you have A LOT of sponsors Rye, you have me, and you have Frent. We're going to help you through this" he assures. "how can you be so sure I mean, why does frent want to help me, I wouldn't if I were him" I say. "frent is an old friend of my brother and i. his parents were close with ours. That boy is one of the nicest out there, I assure you. He doesn't lie, EVER. He volunteered to help you, we didn't tell him to. Haul went to say goodbye to him before you and the first thing he said was, 'im going to get her out alive for you'". "he said that" I ask, "yes. He did. He knows what it's like to loose someone to the games, he lost his older sister, she was my ally but she was killed. When I came back he congratulated me, and welcomed me home…..in that room he told me that you remind him of his sister a little and that he's willing to help you out, so to him it could be like his sister finally survived. He wanted to help Haul out because he used to babysit for him and they were, really close".

Tears stream down my face. "I didn't know any of that". "we're not out to get you Rye. Haul told me your story. None of us are trying to hurt you, we're here to help you. I know the only reason your so cautious is because your just afraid, but around us, me and my brother, you don't need to be scared anymore. We will protect you I promise." He says.

I break out crying and he rubs the back of my head. "Haul and I had a sister too" he whispers. "she was his twin, he doesn't remember her though". "what happened" I ask. He closes his eyes and starts to cry, "when they were two…our mom brought in a small potted plant she bought from town. She put it on the dresser in our room….she told us not to touch it. One day when our parents were working, we stayed home for summer vacation. She crawled over to the dresser and pushed it. The plant fell over and hit her in the head…*sniffle*, it cracked her skull and she bled to death". Holden was only eight years old when that happened. "im sorry" is all I manage to get out. Holden mourns his sister for a couple of minutes and I stay in his arms while he does. "that's why I like that you and Haul love each other, to me you're my new sister" he says and hugs me tighter, "and you're my new older brother".

After a while there is a knock on the door, "who wants cake!" Lane squeals. "just a minute Lane we'll be right out" Holden says back. He pats my arm, "I'll let you get ready" he says. He climbs out of my bed wiping his face. He blows air into his cheeks and leaves out.

I wash my face in the bathroom. Luckily my eyes aren't red. I change back into my t-shirt and capri's then leave out as well. I head back to the dining room where there is a large chocolate cake with lemon icing on it. We're each given a large piece and we eat quietly.

The arena's in two days, suddenly I'm not feeling so good. Snow said he would make things hard for me, and IF I win he'd leave me alone. He's probably going to order the Gamemakers to send mutts after me every five minutes and have some natural disaster come for me. there's no way I'm going to survive. "rye what are you thinking about" holden asks. "the arena. Snow said he wouldn't make this easy for me, he wants to make it hard. Really hard" I say and lay my head on the table.

"yeah..but if the audience loves you then they wouldn't like to have they're favorite tribute harmed all the time", "so what am I supposed to do to get them to like me, I only have three minutes" I say. he considers this, "make them pity you". "how" I ask. "….tell them about the baby"


	6. Chapter 6

**Wassup, this is my third update today! I am on a role! Booyah! Anywho, sorry I keep forgetting to put author notes, but please go back and review anyway *puppy dog eyes*. Enjoy!**

Once again I look sexy. Kern has put me in a strapless cheetah print dress that goes to mid-thigh. I have on wrinkled black cloth boots that go up to my knees. My hair is wild and my make up is dark. My lips are red this time and around my eyes is black my nails are painter black as well. I was told to keep my eyelids low and talk in my seductive voice.

I look in the mirror and pose seductively. "Remember to make the crowd, you know like you, the tell them about the baby. But don't just blurt it out make your way into it" he says and leads me to the elevator where Frent is standing with jeans and a white button down shirt that's unbuttoned to show his chest. A tie has been loosely tied around his neck and he has on jeans. His hair is a mess, as if it was brushed back, then ruffled.

We go into the elevator and ride to the bottom floor and get into a car and ride to a building where they're holding the interviews. Twelve cars drive up to the building and park. All of the tributes get out of the cars and I take a look at all of the outfits.

We all walk in district by district. The boys all have on tuxedoes and the girls have long, poofy, colorful, skin tight dresses on. They all drag on the ground, they all hide their shoes, they all cover the girls legs. I swear I am the only one with a tiny little baby dress on. I notice the winnow, from district two has leopard print so at least im not the only one. Her dress has a slit in it going down her thigh and dragging on the ground.

The girls mostly have their hair pinned up and curled, mine is wild. They have light makeup, mine is darker, they're told to wave, I'm told to flirt. So unique.

The tributes all line up behind the stage in order. Girls before boys. Iberis goes first, her black dress flowing with her movement, her dirty blonde hair bounces as she walks. She has confidence, something that I lack.

There is a television that everyone is watching and we pay attention to her interview. She has confidence all right. Her strategy might be confident and funny. She is pretty funny I have to say, laughing and joking with ceaser, saying that the arena will be easy. Lartius is the same, really confident. All of the career tributes are. The rest of us go and soon it's my turn. I quietly take a deep breath and walk onto the stage and ceaser introduces me. the crowd screams when they see me. I wave and blow kisses. A young man waves at me and I walk to the egde of the stage to rub his face gently. He smiles and I walk over to my chair next to ceaser.

I hold my arms out and bend over to hug him, purposely giving the crowd a quick view of my ass. I sit in my chair and lean back. I cross my legs and look at ceaser. "So Rye! Once again you've all blown us away with that incredible body" he says. I smile then push up my breasts and wink at the crowd. They scream, whistle and snap pictures. I giggle then look back at ceaser.

"so why is it you look so happy tonight, but were so scared and upset at the reaping", "well, I wasn't exactly expecting to be chosen" I say in my seductive voice. "is that your real voice" he asks. "why do you all not like it" I ask smiling. "no we do! But lets get a look into the real Rye", I clear my voice and speak regularly, "is this better", "yea!" I hear people saying in the crowd. "alright then" I say and lean back again. "so, I couldn't help but notice that ring you're wearing it's part of your outfit" he asks. I shake my head, "it's my district token, and also…my engagement ring", "engagement wow! That young fellow out there is quite lucky" he says nodding to the crowd. "yeah. I love him so much, and I want to try to win to be with him" I say.

I need to try and slip in the news about the baby. "well im sure we'd all love to see you two reunite, but the odds are one out of twenty four", "twenty five this year" I say. "what" he asks. "we've got ourselves a little tribute right here" I say placing my hand on my stomach. The crowd gets louder. "your pregnant!" he exclaims. I nod, "I found out on the train ride here", ceaser tries to hide his shock but it's not working. "and your okay with this", "of course not" I lower my voice, "why would I be okay with taking my baby into the arena" I ask expecting an answer.

"well, I don't know". "a mother won't even let they're child on the edge of the couch because they'll fall, what makes you think I would want to put my child in the arena where only one person can come out alive. That's a hell of a risk to take" I say and cross my arms.

"why don't we change the subject, so there are rumors about a fight during training with you in it. Is that true" he asks. "mhmm" I say nodding. "yeah, it wasn't so much a fight It was more of an attack". "who attaked you" he asks. I point behind me, "Skene, the boy from two. He was upset because he didn't get what he want" I say. "what did he want" he asks. I gesture to my body, "all of this". "well I sure would be upset if I didn't get it either" ceaser jokes.

"you want it ceaser" I say getting out of my seat. I sit down onto his lap and turn my head smile at the crowd. I lap dance on him then break out laughing and get up. I get back into my seat and the crowd laughs with me. im sure underneath all of that makeup ceaser is blushing. I reach over and hug him, "im sorry ceaser did I make you feel uncomfortable" I say. he starts to stutter, "da-I, uh. We-ma-fhew, I um, I think we should just wrap it up, wrap it…up. Rye I wish you good luck and I hope you're baby will be safe" he says and smiles. The buzzer goes off and I walk off of stage, waving goodbye to the crowd.

When I exit the stage I meet with Holden away from the other tributes and start to cry, "I can't believe I just did that!" my mascara is smudging. He wraps one arm around me and holds the phone to me. I look at it in disbelief. Not now. I know he'll probably be upset about what I just did.

I take the phone and put it to my ear, "hello" I ask. "what the hell was that!" he yells upset. "I know im sorry I regret it too. I just panicked and I knew they would like if I did that to him" I say. "im not talking about that. I mean why did you tell them about basil!", "holden told me to" I say, "put him on the phone" he says and I hand it back over, "hello" he asks and I can hear haul screaming at him. "because if she did then they would feel bad and want her to be protected, snow cant harm her too much then or it will start problems" he explains. "they wont do anything, they all like her" he says, "I don't know about him, but I'm sure frent will do something about that". "Haul relax, please. Talk to her, she's crying she needs you to be comfort her. This is the last time you get to speak to her for a while, make it count" he says and hands the phone to me.

"hello" I ask. "hey baby I'm sorry for yelling", "it's okay", "I really think you can do this, I saw your score, 10. That's really good.", "thanks". I don't think he knows what to say to me anymore, because he cant tell me I WILL make it out when there's a good chance I won't. "I want you to remember that I love you, so so much Rye. I really do, and I always will." He says. "I love you too", "im going to watch every second of these games to make sure your okay", "what if I'm not" I ask, "don't say that" he orders. "you wont make it if you don't have confidence in yourself. We're here to help you but you also need to help yourself, we're going to work together on this. But we cant help you if you've already given up. You need to fight. Fight for yourself, for me and for basil. Win for us. Just think, basil will never have a life if you've already given up on yours".

"I will fight Haul,", I wish he were here so I could kiss him. "promise me that you will try, and you will do whatever you can to win. That you wont give up on yourself or anyone else, promise please" he begs. I open my mouth to say something but no words come out. My heart is aching. I swallow the lump in my throat and try to stop shaking, "I…I promise". "good" he says.

I cover my mouth to stop my sobbing. I hang up and hive holden the phone.

At dinner I try to eat as much as I can, "ill probably starve to death" I whisper. No one says anything back. I finish eating quickly and head to bed. I'm very tired and luckily I get some sleep. Who knows when i can again.

There is a knock on my door and I ignore it. No way am I getting up. I feel queasy. I feel weak. My door opens and Holden kneels beside my bed, "Rye" he whispers. I look at him from under my pillow. "time to go" he whispers again. I sit up and wipe my eyes. He helps me out of bed and I throw my arms around him, "I love you" I say into his shirt. "I love you too" he says back. He gestures to my outfit on the foot of my bed.

He walks out and I grab the outfit and put it on; Black tank top and black heavy pants with zippers and pockets. thick socks, fingerless gloves and winter boots. I leave my hair out, there's no point in putting it in a ponytail.

When I'm all dressed I head out of my room and snatch two small loaves of bread from the table. No one is allowed to eat breakfast, we are to dress and leave. Fuck those rules, I need food. I give one loaf to Frent when no one is looking and we pick at them sneakily. We go out back and there's a hovercraft waiting for us. Frent and I hug Lane and Holden then head to the hovercraft.

We sit down with the other tributes and. A woman comes and goes to each person to inject a tracker into their arm. I think to myself that this is the least amount of pain I'm about to feel.

After about half an hour we land and I'm taken to an underground tunnel and pushed into a room win Kern. I look to my left and see a large glass tube. I look up, above me is the arena. I slip my ring off and put it into my most secure pocket. Kern hold out a jacket for me, "I fixed it for you and made it water proof, and it also holds in heat, or cold" he says. I pull it on and zip it up, then thank him. "step into capsul" a voice says.

I'm shaking again. I walk into the capsul and it shuts behind me. I'm trying to hard to hold in my tears but everyone knows I cant do that. I hold my head down and wait. Suddenly the plate im standing on begins to rise upwards. I look up and see a gray light. I enter the arena and look around. Trees, water, and mountains. This place LOOKS deadly. I see the cornucopia between a large puddle, on a dry spot. There are weapons surrounding it and bags. Then way in the back I see food. That's not an option. I locate an axe with a bag wrapped around it. A very small bag but it'll do.

I notice the timer, 5…4…3…2…1…BOOM!


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey just so everyone knows im not very good at describing things so if you have trouble visualizing the arena please look at the cover image for this story. And sorry I made a mistake. When holden told rye about how his sister died, he was six years old, not eight, and it is the 58****th**** games not the 60. I'm sorry for the confusion I'm just kinda slow in the head when it comes to math. Thank you and enjoy!**

Everyone is off their plate in a flash, splashing through the puddles. I sprint to the axe and bag jut as everyone else reaches the Cornucopia. As soon as a career gets their hand on a weapon blood is flying, people are screaming. I grab the axe with the bag handle wrapped around it and infront of me is an even bigger bag. I grab it and turn back the way I came. I look behind me and knock into Lartius. He takes me in for a second then lets me pass. It worked!

I make a run for it, pass the metal plate we came here on. I look around, there is a forest of pines, then mountains. "Rye!" I hear my name. I look to my right and see Frent running into the woods signaling for me to follow. I run into the trees and see his body through the bark. I turn to reach him and catch up.

We both run as fast as we can for hours. We're both fit so we could keep going but in my current condition I'm more likely to tire quicker, and I do. I run out of breath and I slow down. "frent!" I call to him as he runs. He turns around and sees me. he skids to a stop and walks over to me. I lean against a tree with my hand over my belly. I breathe and breathe. "are you okay" he asks taking his bag off of his back. He lets me sit down and he kneels infront of me. "we'll stop here for tonight. Lets check our bags to see what we got" he says. I set my bags infront of me and we lay our things out.

Frent got a very large bag. He opens it and takes out a sleeping bag, a jacket, a quart of water, a dart gun with twenty darts in a small box,and a little first aid kit PACKED with stuff. He packs it back up and starts to check the smaller pouches. In one pouch there is a box of matches and a bag of lint for fire. In the next there is a tube of blue poison and a small funnel with a folded up pieced of paper that must have instructions on it.

There is a large pouch below the two small ones that carries two daggers, a knife and two grenades. "wow you are quite the surviver" I say. he laughs and closes his bag. I open my big bag first, there is a small blanket, an emprty canteen which Frent quickly fills for me, a sack of apples, and a little bowl of cream for wounds.

The take my little bag and open it. It's filled with little knives and daggers. I smile, "yes" I whisper. "we've got everything we need" he says and takes a sip of his water. I drink mine as well. _Boom_. I hear a cannon and scream. Frent covers my mouth immediately, "shh" he says. _Boom boom boom boom boom boom. _Seven dead. nineteen are alive.

Frent takes his hand away and says, "the survivers are going to start spreading out to find those who fled. We gotta go" he says. "where" I ask throwing my bookbag over my back and wrapping the small one around my waist. We get up and he puts his large bag onto his back, "anywhere far away" he says. He takes out a dagger and we walk. I keep my axe in one hand and my canteen in the other. I take short sips to make it last but for some reason my throat is dry.

When I look up I see the mountain, but it's a lot farther than it looks. It's not until around sunset that I cant go any further. "frent I need to stop" I say. he looks around, "alright we'll sleep in this grass here. I'll watch, you get some sleep" he says pulling his sleeping bag out of his bag. I unravel it and pull my bags off. I set them against the tree where he sits. I take out my blanket and give it to him. He wraps it around himself and fiddles with a knife.

I climb into the sleeping bag with a knife in my hand and go to sleep.

_Boom!_ I jump up and look to find frent on his feet, heavily breathing. He bends over a rips his knife out of the dead tributes neck. He wipes the blood on his shirt and turns to me. "I was hoping I would never have to kill anybody" he says upset.

I get up, "are you hurt" I ask him. He shakes his head, and backs up into a tree. In the sky it shows Alto from district 5.

I walk over to him and say, "here, I'll watch now" I offer and put my hand on his back and lead him to the sleeping bag. He gets in a lies down. I sit where he was and wrap myself in the blanket. I get my knife and hide it in my pocket then set my axe down next to me.

I look around quickly then turn to Frent. He's faced towards me looking down at the grass. "I'm sorry" I say. he looks up, "about what" he asks. "about your sister", he just stares at me for a while, then doesn't answer. "Holden told me about her, then said how you think of me as your sister. And that's kind of why you want me to survive…" I wait for him to answer, he still doesn't. "I know what it's like. I lost my brother in here. He was only twelve". He finally responds, "how old were you" he asks me, "four" I reply, "how old were you when your sister died", "eight" he says and I see him wipe a tear.

"come over here" I say quietly holding my arm up for him. He gets up and walks over. I share the blanket with him and put his head on my shoulder. I rub his arm. I've never seen him cry before, but I have to remind myself that even though he's the same height as me, he's still younger. "after she died I lived in the orphanage" he cries. "Where were your parents" I ask him. "they never took care of us, Sarc did it for me" he says. "the rest of my family was dead", "what happened" he asks. "there was a…mysterious fire and the house burned down with them in it". I cant say my father started the fire because there would be questions, here and in the capitol and I don't want that. "I lived with this couple. I hated them, so badly. They always yelled at me for having nightmares and for being a little kid." I say. "the kids at the orphanage bullied me for being small and weak. So I started to work out". I smile a bit, "I guess we both had fucked up lives huh". I feel him nod.

Just then a hovercraft appears and takes Alto away.

"I remember haul used to babysit for me when Sarc had to go to work. He was like my best friend, just four years older. He would always act out the books he read to me and make jokes about what was on TV so it wouldn't be boring. He would let me play his guitar and all kinds of things". I smile, "yeah, Haul is a really awesome guy. It great we got to meet him, he just, makes you smile, he always so caring and looking out for you. And he does all of that while his life was a mess as well."

"what happened to him" he asks. I shake my head, "don't worry about that", "alright" he says. "I can still watch if you want to get some more rest" he offers. "no that's alright, get some sleep" I say and take my arm from around him. He gets up and gets back into the sleeping bag and closes his eyes. "the other dead tributes are, the boys from 4, 5, 6, and 3, then the girls from, 10, 7, and 6". I nod, "okay". He turns over and doesn't speak anymore.

After a few more hours I start to get tired. The sun is rising. I begin to drift off when I hear voices, male voices. I get my knife from out of my pocket and slowly stand up. I look in the distance and see Lartius and Raff. I get my bag of knives and take out another knife.

I hide one in my pocket then aim at raff. I throw the knife and it goes right into his neck. The body falls and his cannon fires. Lartius looks around alert then gets out his blade. I take the knife out of my pocket and gently put it in my jacket sleeve. I run at Lartius and make sure I look afraid. I scream a little then run into him, "he's after me" I cry and hold onto him. "who" he asks, "the boy, he's after me. you have to help me" I beg. "alright" he says and hugs me, "it's okay" he says. I wrap my arms around his neck and slide the knife from out of his sleeve.

He raises my head and kisses me. I get a good grip on the knife then plunge it in his head between his ears. His lips leave mine and blood drips out of his mouth, getting into mine a little. He isn't dead yet, but his eyes flicker and he flinches and chokes a little.

I drag the knife down his neck. He looks at me once more then his cannon fires. I let go of the knife and he falls to the floor. I kneel down beside him and pull the knife out slowly.

I look at the bodies. I did this. I killed them, and they didn't suspect a thing. I wipe the knife off on my pants. I smile and walk back to frent. That went exactly as planned.


	8. Chapter 8

**Heyy! Did you miss me! Sorry I haven't been updating school started last week for me and I've been busy, especially now that….wait for it….my teacher…is my dad. Yes I know. But it's actually really fun having him as a teacher. For one I'll keep my behavior in line, second, he's sooo funny. Anyway, back on track. I will try to update every week, or every other week so bear with me on this. Now enjoy.**

**Frent POV**

I sit against the tree with my knife clutched tightly in my hands. My knuckles are bloody and sore but I hold the weapon with my life. I wish I could use it to save my own…but I promised Haul and Rye, and I'm doing this for Sarc. If rye gets out, it'd be like she did. She was so caring, so patient…so quiet. I looked up to her, and now that I've met rye, she's just like her.

No one else would comfort me when I cried but Sarc, and since rye has, then it's like she's my new sister. I'd do anything to have my sister live through this, even if it means losing my own life…

I wipe away my tear and look at rye from the corner of my eye to see if she caught it. She didn't, she's busy staring at her stomach. She says she's about a few days in but she can't be. It would have to take at least a week for her to be impregnated; she has to be at least a week or so in. Holden told me about her babies, and I think that since she must've never kept track of when she found out she was pregnant after consummation; so she wouldn't know how far along she was.

"You hungry" I ask, breaking the silents. She turns to me and nods, "yea, could I get an apple" she asks. I reach into the bag and pull out the sac. I reach into the hole and reach in. I give her one and she takes a large bite out of it. I grab one and eat it as well.

Rye killed two boys yesterday, from 1 and 3. I wasn't surprised at all, she's tougher than she looks. On the outside she seems like a quiet, attractive girl with average intelligence. But on the inside she's strong, extremely smart, and wicked when it comes to a knife. She doesn't look like the kind of girl who could handle a knife. I guess that's why she's able to conceal her abilities so well. You can't judge a book by its cover.

Four more people died yesterday; the girls from 3, 4, and the boys from 8, and 11. It just so happens that we killed them. I got 4 and 11 with my dart gun, and rye got the girl from 3 with her axe and the boy from 8 with a dagger in the ear.

Only eleven people left, including rye and myself.

When I finish my apple I pack the remainders away. When we move on we don't need anyone knowing we've been here.

Rye hands me her apple when she's done and I pack it away. She sighs and places a hand on her stomach. "Frent..." she starts off and looks at me sadly. I turn to her, to show I'm listening. "do you think basil will survive" she asks. I nod, "yea, I don't see why not. I mean, unless you get a blow to the stomach you should be fine. We've been here three days, and you're not hurt at all. I think you're good okay don't worry" I say and place my hand on her stomach. It calms her. I guess knowing that someone loves her baby besides her is soothing. I just do it because Holden told me that's what Haul would do.

We spend the next two hours taking quick naps. Once I wake up from my turn we're off. I keep my gun in my belt and a knife in my hand. Rye has her axe, ready to swing at anything that startles her.

"Where exactly are we going" she asks. I point to the mountain, "we'll seek shelter there" I say and then go back to focusing on my surroundings. Someone could ambush us at any moment.

Just then I hear a large rustle and whip around, but rye stays facing forward, just in case. There is a shadow immerging from behind a large shrub. I start towards it silently, when out of nowhere I'm on the ground.

I can't exactly make out what it is that is pinning me so hard, but I can just make out the thick brown fur that is covering me, and the large razor sharp teeth just inches from my face. The claws are digging into my chest and I can't breathe. "Rye!" I scream. I can't hear her footsteps but I hear the beast roar. And suddenly it gets off of me. Before I even dare look at what was on me I jump right into Sarc's arms…..i mean Rye. I cry like a baby and she comforts me, "shh, it's alright, let me see" she says examining my chest, which is gushing blood.

I turn and look at the beast. "What is that" I ask. "A bear" she replies and goes over to it to get her axe out of its neck. She looks around and takes my arm, "c'mon we have to get going" she says and helps me walk. We take our stuff with us behind a bush and she treats my wounds

She takes off my torn up shirt and applies cream to the large slashes in my torso. When she touches me it hurts, really badly but then it's soothing.

I've never seen a bear before" I announce. "I have, in a book" she says to me. "But all of the books in school are wheat related" I say. "Haul has books" is all she says. She wraps bandages around me and then lifts up my shirt, "I don't think you can wear this anymore" she says. "There's a jacket in my bag" I say pointing to my large bag. She opens it and pulls the jacket out. She puts it on me carefully. The medicine is working but my wounds still hurt.

She stuffs the torn shirt into the bag and zips it closed. "Do you want to rest" she asks wiping away my tears. I nod, "ok" she says and we camp here.

**Rye POV**

I've never seen Frent cry like that. It's like that tough fifteen year old boy was gone, and a little 10 year old was revealed.

Two more cannons. The girls from 11 and 12. We didn't t kill them but we heard their screams. "Frent" I whisper shaking I'm gently. He opens his eyes, "c'mon, we need to go" I say. He gets up and we start walking again. It's tiring but we can't risk anymore injuries today…. "Do you feel that" haul asks. I nod, hot air, very hot…no, cold air. "It's changing" I whisper. The wind gets stronger to the point where we can't keep our balance. "Let's go!" Frent yells so I can hear him. We run the opposite direction the wind is blowing and it's very complicated. We resort to holding hands so one of us isn't left behind.

"What's happening!?" I ask. Frent looks up then back. His entire face changes and he shouts, "Tornado!" What! Snow is trying to kill me, with the mutt bear and now this! He might as well make it rain knives!

I turn and see the large vortex forming, a giant funnel of air sucking up everything in its way. Even tributes! Cannons are going off; tributes are screaming and being flung and splattered everywhere. "What are we gonna do!?" I ask desperately. "I don't know" is all the response I get.

I look back up at the artificial sky and see clouds forming, large dark, and scary clouds. A lightning bolt strikes and hits the ground just a foot in front of us, making us stop in our tracks immediately. "This way!" Frent shouts and we run to the left.

Rain pours down on us, making our surroundings impossible to see. We look around frantically and Frent says, "the mountain, let's go!" he says and runs ahead, dragging me because he's so fast. After three days of hiking through these pines we finally made it to our destination. I look up at the rocky cliffs and begin to think this isn't the best idea.

Six cannons went off, meaning there are only Frent and I and one last tribute. This is it, the finale. This is when I lose Frent forever. Who knows neither of us might make it. This last tribute could be someone vicious, or smarter than us. Like Skene. Oh I hope it isn't him, I hate to admit it but I'm afraid of him. I couldn't fight him off in training and he was just trying to rape me, now he'll have weapons and will be trying to kill me. I don't think I'll make it out of here.

We head up the steep mountain side dodging stalagmites that are randomly popping up out of the ground. "Hey!" I hear a very masculine voice call. We look back and see a shadowy figure through the rain running right at us. "Don't stop" Frent instructs pulling me with him further up the mountain.

Our path gets steeper and steeper, it seems like we're running up a wall. This doesn't stop us, we run for our lives through the icy cold rain that won't stop falling. I look back and see the tribute...Skene right behind me with his sword ready to strike me. "Frent!" I call and he turns around and pulls me out of the way. I have my axe, but I'm too petrified to do anything.

"Rye, kill him!" Frent shouts at me. "Don't even think about it honey. I'm winning this" Skene says to me raising his arm again. I gasp, "Rye!" Frent shouts and this gets me thinking again. I let go of his hand and use my axe to block Skene's sword. He doesn't take it away, he exerts more force to the point where im about to fall over. I hear Frent going through his bag and the next thing I know he has a large blade in his hands. "Shame, you two are working so hard to protect each other, now what happens when I kill one of you" Skene threatens.

Frent grabs my hand and pulls me back just as a stalagmite comes up out of the ground. We turn and run. The rock were on is becoming slippery and the rain is turning into hail. We cant see what's ahead and all of the stalagmites are slowing us down so skene is catching up easily.

Thunder booms in the sky and a blast of lightning hits the mountain side blinding me. The rock breaks and Frent and I plummet into the stalagmites below. I hear the cannon.

"BOOM!"

**Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay try not to cry. Here's the next chapter.**

My head throbs, and it's extremely painful. I can taste the blood that's trickling down my head and into my mouth. The rain has stopped and the tornado is gone. I open my eyes and look around at my blurred surroundings. I landed in water, even though the plummet was filled with crashing into rocks and branches. My leg feels broken. I look down into the water to see any other damages done to my body, but all I see is blood.

No. This couldn't have happened. Not here, not now! Not again! I thought this time would be different, I thought I'd be able to have this baby. But once again, I've miscarried. My baby is gone. Basil is gone.

I bow my head and cry. This is the last time I let this happen. No more. I can't handle the pain anymore. I look up and see the stalagmites that should have ended my life. But instead, I see Frent. The sharp point of the stalagmite has pierced right through him and his body hangs limply. His blood slides down the rock and into the water, blending with mine. Two lives, I've lost today. Frent did what he could to protect me, to help me get out of here and now I don't even know if I am. Skene could come right now and kill me and there is nothing I'll be able to do.

I think back to what Haul said, "Y_ou won't make it if you don't have confidence in yourself. We're here to help you but you also need to help yourself, we're going to work together on this. But we can't help you if you've already given up. You need to fight. Fight for yourself, for me and for basil. Win for us. Just think, basil will never have a life if you've already given up on yours_"

He's right. I've already given up. I promised to try my best to win this so that I could go home and be with him and have our baby. Basil may be gone for now but I can still win this, then go back home and try again. It wouldn't be right if I let myself die in here after Frent risked his life so that I can survive. That wouldn't be right. I look up at Frent's dead body and thank him silently. I wipe my eyes and then look around. I'm all alone, who knows where Skene is. He could be right in front of my face, I just don't see him.

I need my axe to finish the job. Skene was already wounded I saw the blood on him, I just need to find my axe…

I reach into the water and feel around. It was in my hand when I fell and I let it go after I hit the ground. It's heavy so it must be under the water somewhere close by. My fingers run over metal and I trace the object until I find the handle. I grab it and hold it up. My axe!

"Well, looks like you made it to the final two" Skene says walking up to me from out of the mist a couple yards away. "I didn't know you'd get this far. But what I do know…is who'll win this". "C'mon babe, get up and lets have a real fight" he taunts. I try and get up, but it hurts. My leg really is broken. The pain makes me tear up, not to mention my eyes are already wet from my losses today. "aww what's the matter baby. You miss your little friend" he says pointing to Frent's body.

The tears are stinging my eyes. "Where's that blood coming from, you didn't drop your load did you" he says pouting.

All my life, I've been bullied, teased, beaten, and it just won't stop! I refuse to let this happen anymore. I WILL win this, and I WILL make it back home!

I use my arms to slowly hoist myself up onto the dirt, my axe clutched in one hand. My leg pain forces me to grit my teeth and whimper. I bend my good leg so that I sit up and try to stand but I end up falling again. Skene laughs, "Alright you're wasting my time." He says and walks up to me and raises his sword. I look up at him and just as he strikes I roll over. It pains me greatly but it's worth it because the roll helped me to my feet. I stand with a limp. Skene looks surprised but runs for me again.

He strikes and I block it with my axe. He swirls his sword around and my axe slips right out of my hand and flies into the air. Skene pushes me in the chest and knocks me to the ground. This is it. I'm dead. He raises his sword for the last time and just then my axe falls from out of the sky and buries itself right into his brain.

His cannon goes off.

Claudius templesmith's voice booms through the empty arena. "Ladies and gentleman, the victor of the 58th hunger games! From district nine! Rye Hemlock!"

**She won! Hooray. Okay im not sure how many chapters more will be in the story, no more than three. Then I'll make a third story for this, I don't know a title name yet.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Rye won the games! This chapter will be Haul's point of view, or just half of it I don't know yet. Alright enjoy!**

**Haul POV**

Rye won! She won! Oh my god! I'm so overwhelmed with joy that I'm crying. I'm extremely sad that we lost Frent…and Basil, but I'm glad that rye is coming back to me. Snow has to keep his promise. If he doesn't, I'll spread the news and it'll spark up a rebellion…just like Rye wanted.

The television shows a hovercraft landing in the arena and peacekeepers coming to get her. They put her on a stretcher and wheel her into the hovercraft. The anthem plays and the screen goes black. Tomorrow they'll interview her, she'll be put in some slutty outfit and will probably have to lap dance Ceaser again. I was very upset when she did that, but I overlooked it because when she did that she got more sponsors. It's strange though that they didn't send her anything. Snow probably didn't allow it. It doesn't matter anymore though because she won.

After her interview tomorrow she'll be sent home. i can't wait to see her. I shut off the TV and head upstairs. I go into the bathroom and shave off the beard I'd begun to grow. I never bothered to groom myself these last two weeks because I was in front of the television the entire time. These last fourteen days were the longest of my life, so suspenseful, I didn't know if I was going to lose her or not, and if so how. By fire!? That would have scarred me for life.

**The next day. **

**Rye POV**

Kern has dressed me in a golden gown that drags three feet behind me. I have on platform shoes that match the dress, and lace gloves that swirl up my arms.

My leg is fixed, in the hovercraft I was healed, and fed, then taken here; to the tribute apartment.

I'm being interviewed today, and then they'll take me home. To haul. Just the thought of him brings tears to my eyes. "No crying you'll smudge your mascara" kern says gently wiping my tears away with a cloth. When he turns his back I make a face at him. He's from the capitol, he has no idea what life is like for a tribute. Or should I say victor. I can't believe I did it!

I wonder what snow thinks. He's probably furious that I didn't die.

Just then there is a knock on the door and Holden comes running in. I haven't seen him since I left for the arena. I run into his arms and cry; I don't care what kern says. "it's okay, you're safe now" he says rubbing my back soothingly. "You're messing up her hair!" Kern complains. We ignore him. "The interview will only be an hour long and then we're off to nine. Okay" he says. I nod. Holden lets me go and leaves out.

I turn back to my stylist and he calls my prep team back in to fix my hair and makeup all over again.

When im done being pampered im taken behind stage and wait impatiently as Ceaser introduces me. "Rye hemlock everybody!" he says and the crowd screams. I walk out onto stage, my dress dragging behind me.

Ceaser holds his hand out and I take it and we sit in our chairs. "Congratulations rye!" he exclaims. "Thank you" I say smiling. "I have to say I didn't think you'd make it but when I saw your determination in those last few minutes I thought…rye is going to win this one. Did anyone else think that" he asks and the crowd claps. "Always expect the unexpected is my motto" he announces and the crowd laughs. I laugh with them.

"alright now, here is the recap of your games" he says gesturing to a large screen behind us. Our chairs turn to face it and I watch my games all over. I watch the bloodbath and how frent and I escaped, how we had that talk about our lost siblings and I comforted him while he cried. How I killed raff then tricked Lartius, then killed him. Frent and I do a lot of walking and only stop to eat and sleep. It shows how we killed the four tributes then are attacked by the bear. The tornado appears and frent and I are running up the mountain away from skene. It shows how we plummet hundreds of feet. I land in the water and frent is pierced by the stalagmite and is killed.

I look away and wipe a tear quickly before ceaser notices.

It shows me crying and looking for my axe. Skene comes up and teases and taunts me. I get to my feet, he attacks, my axe flies up then lands in his head and he's dead. The anthem plays and it's over.

The audience applauds and our chairs turn back around. "so, rye I remember you telling us you were pregnant. Was that pool of blood..", "yes Ceaser I miscarried" I say annoyed. "I fell off of a mountain and now my baby is dead." I cry. "oh. Im sorry rye. But now that you're victor you get to go home and reunite with your fiancée. Hopefully you'll be impregnated again. Just remember to tell us about your pregnancy during the victory tour" he says happily.

I forgot about the victory tour. That just means that I'll have to come back here in six months.

"I might" I say trying to pretend like I'm joking. Everyone laughs. Just then a young boy walks onto stage with a velvet pillow in his arms carrying a golden crown. President snow walks up behind the boy and takes the crown with two hands. I stand before him and he places the crown on my head. "Congratulations" he says dully. "are you going to leave us alone, I won just like you said" I say so quietly only he can hear me. "a promise is a promise" is all he says, then exits the stage.

After my interview is over I'm taken back stage and kern changes me into a sun tile print maxi dress, my hair is combed out so it looks natural and my jewelry is removed. i sit next to Holden on the train ride leaning into his arms. I'm going home. It doesn't exactly process, but Holden helps me through the three hour long ride back to our home district.

When we pull into our little station I can hear the roar of people outside the train and haul is in that crowd. "make sure you smile and wave" Holden says bringing me to the door.

I stand at the door and it slides open. I step out and the crowd gets louder. They clap and congratulate me. I wave and smile just like Holden said to. I look around and in the very center of the crowd I see him. Dark hair at his chin now, a large smile on his face, and tears in his eyes. Holden walks out and takes my wrist and throws my arm into the air. Haul claps now, he puts his hands down and starts pushing through the crowd. I watch as he makes his way over to me. He wraps his arms around me and lifts me off of the ground and hugs me tight. "Don't you ever leave me again" he cries. "I won't" I promise him and cry into his shoulder. I missed him so much. Feeling his touch seems so foreign, it's been a while. Haul wipes my tears and kisses me longingly.

Holden puts his hand on hail shoulder and he whips around and hugs him, "thank you so much holden" he thanks. Holden just smiles, "you're welcome little brother" he says. I wrap my arms around haul and lean on his shoulder, "welcome home baby" he whispers to me, and the three of us take off towards the victors villiage.

**Ok that was the last chapter. I'll try to start the new story tomorrow, that doesn't mean I'll update it. I don't have a name yet but you'll know the new one when you see it. Okay thanks for sticking eith this story and I'll read you in the next story. Peace!**


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